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The Burgess Boys

 I’ve seen Elizabeth Strout’s books recommended quite a lot, and I’ve previously read My Name is Lucy Barton, which was a fun, short read.  I plan to review it too at some point, but when The Burgess Boys came up in my library list, I thought I’d give it a chance.

This author definitely writes what I would call more complicated books, that is to say they’re not your typical beach read, and she’s won some serious book awards for her stories.  But I’m trying to branch out my reading a little, and this book was great for this.  I was definitely a little slow reading it, but I enjoyed it, and even found myself thinking about the characters after I was done reading it.

Jim and Bob Burgess left the small town in Maine where they grew up as soon as they were old enough to head to New York City.  As a side note, I love reading about NYC since we’ve visited 3 times, and we can’t wait for our next post Covid visit.  Jim is a successful corporate lawyer and Bob is a Legal aid lawyer who idolizes Jim and his family.  

Life gets turned upside down when their sister Susan, who stayed behind, calls them home urgently.  She needs help with her son Zach who has gotten himself into a world of trouble.  The story follows what happens next while we learn all about this family, their differences and their history.  It was definitely worth reading.  I will also be looking to read some of her other books soon.  I seem to be making my TBR list blow up faster than I’m able to read.




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